Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Peter Jackson on the release of the West Memphis Three

The case of the West Memphis Three is something I'd heard of before, but only in passing. The Wikipedia page provides extensive background info, and the website of the campaign to free them can be found here. However, after coming across news of their release last Friday, I've been doing a bit of reading around.

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson provides the most passionate commentary on the case;

The fight to free the West Memphis Three has been raging for nearly
all of the 18 years since their farcical 1994 convictions for the triple
murder of three young boys, fueled hugely by the excellent "Paradise
Lost" documentary released in 1996. Jason and Jessie were sentenced to
life, Damien was sentenced to death.

This morning the
State of Arkansas finally released these three innocent men. This was
done on the strict condition that they agree the State prosecutors did
the right thing in 1993 and their original convictions were in fact,
justified. It's called an "Alford Plea", and in theory it allows
innocent men to walk free, so long as they are happy to have their
convictions stand, and lose any right to claim compensation from the
State for wrongful imprisonment.

The last two weeks have
been very tense, because the State told the three defense teams that
they would consider an "Alford Plea" - but it had to be "all or
nothing". All three men had to accept the conditions of the plea - if
one refused, they would all stay in prison, probably for another 2 to 3
years, until their inevitable retrial, which would have almost certainly
found them innocent. When he received the plea offer, Jason Baldwin
refused to accept it. And why the hell should he? He's an innocent man,
who has had the last 18 years - half his life - robbed by the State of
Arkansas. This was a brave and noble stand by Jason, but it created a
very tough time for Damien, and his loved ones.

You see,
Damien Echols had to get out of prison, Alford Plea or not. Unlike
Jason, Damien has spent the full 18 years on death row. He has not seen
sky for over 10 years. He has not had sun on his skin for over 10 years.
He is shackled hand and foot whenever he leaves his cell. His eyesight
has deteriorated. Look at this morning's press conference - see how
Damien has his hand over his mouth? It's because he has severe continual
dental pain, and has had for years. On Arkansas death row, the only
serious dental care they offer is extraction. No point killing men with
nice new crowns. Everyone who knows Damien, has been fearful for his
health. He's very weak, and frail - and has limited ability to fight off
any infection. Up there in the Varner Unit death row, they don't tend
to be as interested in basic medical care as your family doctor.

For
several nerve-wracking days, Jason was saying no to the "Alford Plea",
but he has been confined in a different, much less severe prison
environment and had no contact with Damien. Damien's lawyer wrote to
Jason, several friends talked with him. They explained Damien's
situation to Jason, and he immediately agreed to change his mind. Jason
is a decent guy, and did the right thing for his friend, just as he did
many years ago when he was offered a much reduced sentence if he
testified against Damien. He refused then - because he knows Damien is
innocent, as he is - and he wasn't going to take the bait and sell out
his friend. He's been in prison ever since as a result.

Why
would you take this "Alford Plea" if you were innocent, if you had a
strong possibility that the convictions would be overturned at a
retrial? I can answer that - because a retrial would take at least two
years, and if the convictions were overturned, the State would likely
appeal and the process would drag on for several more years. And all
this time you are relying on getting a fair hearing from a State justice
system that has not served you well during the last 18 years. Last year
you finally get a glimmer of hope when the case is heard by a judge who
has no vested interest in the original verdict, but who's to say that
judge will still be there in several years time? The whole thing is just
too fragile, along with a total lack of trust and belief in the justice
system of Arkansas. I know what I would do in their position.

So
the "Alford Plea" was entered, and Damien, Jason and Jessie walked free
this morning - all that was missing was justice. Justice did not play a
role in the proceedings this morning ... not to the 3 men who have been
robbed of 18 years, not to the 3 young victims and their families, and
certainly not to the people of Arkansas, whom the system is supposed to
serve.

There's also a triple child killer who has walked
free for the last 18 years ... seemingly an unimportant detail in
today's white-washing job.

Back to Scott Ellington, the
State's prosecutorial mouth-piece, who lectured the press this morning -
take a look, it's online. I'm not going to watch it again, so I can't
quote him directly but he managed to state his complete confidence that
the three men are indeed the real murderers, and that the State has no
intention of further investigation ... whilst also saying that a retrial
would likely result in an overturning of the verdicts. Sorry ... how
does that actually work? Did I miss something? Compelling evidence of
extensive DNA results that were not available back in 1994 ... vastly
experienced forensic and scientific experts who were not consulted in
1994 ... prosecution witnesses who now admit they lied under oath back
in 1994? Mr Ellington says all that would likely result in a different
verdict today, but he still maintains Damien, Jason and Jessie committed
these crimes?

And what reasons does Mr Ellington give for
Arkansas State not wanting to retry this case - beyond his personal
opinion of rampant, evil, satanic worshipping, Stephen King reading,
black tee-shirt wearing guilt? Not a lot, but he does refer to the fact
that a State Crime Lab employee who specialised in hair and fiber
evidence analysis back in 1994 has died in the intervening 18 years. I'm
not sure how this hinders the State. He doesn't mention that this very
same State employee was very loose with their record keeping, failed to
accurately record where key hairs had come from, and submitted
questionable analysis, much of which has been rendered redundant by
subsequent DNA testing. This same late forensic expert even managed to
state that Jason had curious art-work on his bedroom wall - a little
outside the forensic brief maybe, but hey, it's good for the team!

It
goes on and on ... any serious detailed look into the facts and science
of this case quickly reveals what an appalling miscarriage of justice
it is. Any vaguely intelligent person would come to the same conclusion,
if they take the time - except for Mr Ellington and his justice league.
But then, to be fair, Mr Ellington has a job to do, and a good reason
to protect his State from admitting any fault. 42 million good reasons
in fact. The most telling thing Mr Arkansas Justice Mouth-piece said
this morning was that a guy who proved he was wrongfully convicted in
another State, was awarded compensation of $14 million.

Follow the money.

What
is the price of justice in Arkansas? I don't know, but it seems the
price of a miscarriage could be as much as $14 million per person. Or
you could look at it another way - investigating and convicting the real
killer would cost Arkansas $42m, or $14m for the lives of each of those
little boys. A little outside of their "Justice Budget" perhaps?
Protect and Serve the people - up to a price?